A Sacramento Superior Court judge has decided that Blue Shield was not obligated to provide the weight-loss drug Xenical to morbidly obese patients. Judge Emily Vasquez ruled Friday that even though a new state law allows regulators to draw up a list of what should be covered by health plans, that law only applies to contracts written after Jan. 1, 2003. The first hearing on which drugs should be included on the list is scheduled for late June. Blue Shield argued in court that it shouldn't be forced to pay for so-called lifestyle drugs for those it insured.

A state judge in Sacramento ruled Tuesday that HMO regulators cannot force Blue Shield of California to provide a weight-loss drug to an obese member. Superior Court Judge Joe S. Gray issued a preliminary injunction that prevents the state from penalizing the HMO for not covering the drug Xenical. The state had proposed to fine Blue Shield $270,000 for refusing to participate in an independent medical review that later determined that the patient should receive the medicine.

An experimental diet drug, which scientists hope is safer than the ill-fated Redux and fen-phen, helped obese people shed pounds and keep them off in a two-year study, researchers at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan said. Orlistat, trade-named Xenical, has been judged safe and effective enough for the U.S. market by an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration.

Four people and a Miami-based pharmaceutical supply company have been charged with conspiring to illegally sell prescription drugs over the Internet, federal authorities said. The Justice Department and Food and Drug Administration said the defendants were indicted for conspiring to sell such drugs as Viagra, Xenical, Celebrex, Propecia and Claritin-D to people who lacked valid prescriptions. Called the Norfolk Men's Clinic, the Web site (http://www.viagra.au.

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a new diet drug for the seriously obese, the first of a new class of diet drugs that works by blocking the body's absorption of fat, rather than by suppressing the appetite. The drug, Xenical, developed by Hoffmann-LaRoche Inc., of Nutley, N.J., is part of a category of drugs known as lipase inhibitors because they prevent the body from producing lipase, an enzyme necessary for the breakdown of fat molecules.

The Legislature gave its final approval Friday to a measure that would allow pharmacies to sell up to 30 syringes, or hypodermic needles, to an adult without a prescription. Supporters say over-the-counter syringe sales would reduce the spread of HIV and infectious hepatitis among drug users, saving millions of dollars in medical costs.

Amgen Inc.'s experimental weight-loss hormone leptin appears to work by decreasing the pleasure of eating, according to new research conducted in mice. The study, to be published next week in the journal Science, may give insight into the way the drug lowers weight. Unlike Roche Holding's new diet drug Xenical, which works by blocking the body's ability to process fat, leptin appears to work by changing behavior.

As people gain weight, their blood pressure tends to go up. Fortunately, as they lose weight, their blood pressure tends to go down -- but only so far, says Dr. Karol Watson, co-director of preventive cardiology and director of the hypertension clinic at UCLA. "If your body weight is normal, getting below doesn't help," she says. Even modest weight loss (say, 5% to 10% of your current heft) is effective at lowering blood pressure for those who have high blood pressure or prehypertension.

The arrival this week of the latest wonder drugs--the anti-impotence pill Viagra and a new anti-obesity tablet called Xenical--has Britons questioning just how much health and happiness taxpayers should subsidize. Fearing a huge and costly demand, Britain's National Health Service has banned its doctors from prescribing Viagra until the department can come up with a way to ensure that only "deserving" patients get the drug for a reduced fee.